Dyaus and Prithvi – Sky and Earth

Most classic religions promote the principle of the first parents. These first progenitors usually have a responsibility for the birth of the second generation of gods, who essentially form the pantheons. Ironically, these first gods are then relegated to a forgotten chapter of history. This particular phenomenon is also visible in the Hindu scriptures, with Dyauṣ and Pṛthivī, Father Sky, & Mother Earth.

Dyauṣ

Dyauṣ is the father, the Sky, who impregnated Pṛthivī, the earth and mother, in the form of rains. He is the father of Indra (future king of the Gods, and lord of rain), Agni (Fire) and Ushas (the Dawn), and is said to have caused the subsequent growth of the flora and fauna on the earth.

Dyauṣ is mentioned in five verses of the Rig Veda in simple invocations. In the RV Hymn 1.89, Dyauṣ is first mentioned by name and given the title of Father Heaven (as opposed to heavenly father which is read differently).

Translated as – May Earth our Mother, and our Father Heaven give it to us &, may the Wind waft to us that pleasant medicine.

In additional hymns in the RV (1.90, 1.164, 1.191) Dyauṣ is mentioned again but no further explanation is provided for his role in the world. In all the hymns he is identified as “Heaven, the father”. In RV 4.01 Dyauṣ is identified as the Sire and begetter, and it is said that he showers true blessings.

It is also interesting to note that Dyauṣ has not been dedicated any hymns in the RV. He only makes appearences in hymns dedicated to Agni, about water, grass, and the sun and a selection of hymns dedicated to the Visvadevaś, who are a regiment of gods dedicated to mulitple universal functions, including – time, speech, dawn, and winds.

Pṛthivī

In the earlier Vedic traditions, Pṛthivī is regarded as mother Earth, a bestower of fertility in conjunction with her divine partner Dyauṣ. In that role she became a mother to the second generation of Gods, Indra, Agni, Usha and others. Both Pṛthivī and Dyauṣ together played an important part in the creation mythology, with some even suggesting that they are the being, who is being discussed in the Nisadayà Suktà or the creation hymn.

In the RV Pṛthivī is invoked in hymns dedicated to Heaven and EArth. Surprisingly in these Hymns, Dyauṣ is not mentioned by name. In RV (1.159, 1.160) Dyauṣ and Pritihvi are said to provide for all creatures in the worlds, they are a mighty pair, who never fail and keep everyone safe.

In RV (1.185) the divine pair is invoked to protect people from the wrath of all lesser gods and foes. This hymn is dedicated to the majesty of the divine parents. The text from this particular verse says

Duly I call the two wide seats, the mighty, the general Parents, with the God’s protection. Who, beautiful to look on, make the nectar. Protect us, Heaven and Earth, from fearful danger.

Disappearance of Dyauṣ and Rethinking of Pṛthivī

Despite the importance given to both Dyauṣ and Pṛthivī in the hymns they are invoked in in the RV, the fact that the number of hymns itself is not many, leads us to believe that the later Vedic and post Vedic period paid less import to the pair of the Sky and Earth. As more and more elements in nature were recognised, more and more gods appeared to control those natural phenomenon. In the Puranic texts (which are the post Vedic texts of the Hindu faith) Dyauṣ disappears. Even in the vedas, his most important role (that of the rain giver) is taken over by Indra.

Pṛthivī on the other hand faces a different fate. Her role as the prime parent is diminished as later Puranic texts depict here being formed either by Brahma or having appeared from the feet of Vishnu. In some traditions she is also depicted as another wife of Vishnu, to whom she goes seeking help when she faces the depravations of demons and other evil characters.

From a loving, caring and all-powerful goddess, she is positioned as one who does not care for the people on the earth. In a story from the Vishnu Purana a pious king called Prithu is given dominion over the earth. He is a good king who is just and cares for his people. However despite his and his subject’s labours there is a famine and the earth will not yield it’s bounty.

In anger, the king shoots an arrow through the earth, however Pṛthivī takes the form of a cow and runs away. Prithu gives chase and Pṛthivī takes refuge with Brahma, while admonishing Prithu for attacking a woman. In response Prithu tells her “when the happiness of many is secured by the destruction of one malignant being, the slaughter of that being is an act of virtue.”

Overcome at length, the Earth declared that though all produce contained within her were old, and destroyed by her, at the king’s command she would restore them “as developed from her milk.” By granting life to the Earth, Prithu was as her father, and she thence derived the patronymic Pṛthivī.

This story also helps to highlight some of the anachronisms present in Hindu storytelling and lore. In the RV Pṛthivī is named as such. Documentary evidence places the Puranas as being later texts. This story of the development of Pṛthivī leads further credence to the idea that religion develops with the civilization and the environments and situations surrounding them.

Similarities in other religions

The concept of the Father Sky and Mother Earth is something that is found across other Indo-European religions as well. It is possibly a function of migratory patterns of people starting from central Asia and moving to civilisation areas like Mesopotamia, Greece, Mongolia and India. It is believed that these peoples do share a common ancestry at a very early stage of evolution.

In Mesopotamia, the pair of Anu & Ki were the parents of the Annunakki whose most prominent god was Enil, the god of air. In Greece the pair of Oranus and Gaia performed a similar function as the parents of the Titans. The Mongoloid shamanistic religion emphasised the worship of Tengri – The great blue god of the sky. In Egypt, the roles of male and female were reversed – with Nut taking over the role the sky goddess and Geb as the God of the earth. Their children were the Gods of rain and wind.

Beyond the Indo-Asian regions, a similar mythology is also seen in the Maori mythology from New Zealand.

Ranginui is the sky father while Papatuanuku was the earth mother. In the Maori tradition, Ranginui and Papatuanuku clung to each other tightly. Thus the children that were born to them were held between them in complete darkness. The children, in a bid, to escape this darkness, separated their parents by pushing them apart.

Ranginui and Papatuanuku continue to grieve for each other to this day. Ranginui’s tears fall towards Papatuanuku to show how much he loves her. Sometimes Papatuanuku heaves and strains and almost breaks herself apart to reach her beloved partner again but it is to no avail. When mist rises from the forests, these are Papatuanuku’s sighs as the warmth of her body yearns for Ranginui and continues to nurture mankind.

All of Ranginui and Paptuanuku’s children have agreed to this separation of their parents; except one. Tāwhirimatea, the god of storms and winds. He goes out and joins his father in the sky and becomes the controller of winds, and storms.

In the Maori tradition Tāwhirimatea joins his father, and (maybe), peacefully takes over the responsibility of rain and storms.

In the Indo-European traditions, the god of thunder and rain, normally usurps the role of the sky father. In the Greek traditions Cronus catrated Oranus, and deposed him. He was further challenged and defeted by Zeus who took over the role of the king of the gods and wielder of the thunderbolt by defeating and imprisoning the Titans. One tradition in Hinduism, does say that Indra killed Dyauṣ taking Pṛthivī as his wife, before taking over Dyauṣ’ role as king and as lord of rains.

The character of the earth goddess on the other hand is allowed to live on, and has a greater glory in all the traditional faiths. In Hinduism she continues in her function as birth giver and caretaker. She is patient as no other as she bears on her chest the weight of all the living. In Greece she remained an all-pervading deity, oaths sworn in Gaia’s name were binding on gods and humans and were rarely, if ever, broken.

References and Resources

sacred-texts.com, Sanskrit text of the Rig Veda

Hindu Mythology, Vedic and Puranic, by W.J. Wilkins

ancientegypt.co.uk, The British Museum

Encyclopaedia Britannica, articles on Mesopotamia and Mesopotamian religion and gods.